Method of installing sound absorbing material



@et 3, 1933..l l A 1 FOLEY v 1,928,650

METHOD 0F INSTALLING SOUND ABSORBING MATERIAL Filed Dec, .3, 1929 Figi.

Y wauw." Wwf gw/M ATTORNEYS Patented @et 3, i933 WTHOD 0F INSTALMNGSOUND BSORB- ING MATERHAL Arthur Lee Foley, Bloomington, 1nd., assignerto Wood v(loiuversiim Company, Cloquet, Minn., a corporation oiDelaware.

Application December 3,

Claims.

This invention relates to sound absorbing wall constructions and moreparticularly to a .wall for theatres, public halls, auditoriums and thelike. During the past few years a great deal of attention has been paidto acoustics in various buildings used for public addresses, schoolbuildings, churches, presentations of theatricals, symphony concerts andother performances in which 'the transmission of sound is an importantfactor. The acoustics of such halls or rooms have been corrected. byconducting suitable tests and then applying sound absorbing material tothe surfaces of the walls or ceilings where necessary. Such soundabsorbing material is usually in the lform of mats or pads which aresecured to the surface and painted or otherwise decorated to carry outthe ornamental design of the room. The acoustical eiect produced by theapplication of sound absorbing material to the wall surfaces in thismanner has been fairly satisfactory, but the expense and dimcultiesencountered in the application of such material have greatly restrictedits use.

One form of sound absorbing material `that has been used for acousticalcorrection comprises a mat or core of nbrous material having a facing ofkraft paper on one side and a facing of open mesh cloth on the oppositeside. The paper facing is placed against the plastered wall or ceilingwith the cloth facing on the outside to permit the free passage of soundwaves into the nbrous material.

'Very excellent results can be obtained by the use of such material butthe cost of installing it is prohibitive in many cases. In applying itto a surface the cloth facing is generally covered by an open meshmembrane which 'must be stretched and often requires the services ofskilled mechanics to apply it to the surface. The membrane may then bepainted or otherwise decorated but it has a tendency to stretch and sagand may rot or decompose in course of time.

To overcome such diiculties it has been proposed to provide a fibroussound absorbing material of this character with a facing of wire screen,perforated metal, or the like. The present invention relates to themethod of securing such screen faced sound absorbing material to thesurfaces of the walls of the hall or room.. In applying the material Isecure furring strips to the wall at intervals equal to the Width of thepad of material and of such thicmiess that the outer surface of thefurring strip will be flush with the outer surface of the pad. The wirescreen projects beyond the edge of the pad and there-'- 1929. Serial No.411,226

(Cl. Ztl-4) v f6re overlies the surface of the furring strip.

The pad of sound absorbing material may, therefore, be secured in placeby merely nailing the wire screen facing to the furring strip. Suitablepanelstrlps may then be secured over the edges of the screen andfastened to the furring strips. The nailing of the screen to the furringstrip and the application of the panel strips may be accomplished by anordinary workman, thus eleminating the services of skilled mechanicsnecessary in' applying the cloth faced sound absorbing material andgreatly reducing the expense of application. Furthermore the iinishedwall structure is a material advance over the constructions heretoforeemployed as the desired design may be placed on the metal surface and amore permanent product is produced. The wire has less tendency tostretch and sag than the cloth, may be more readily cleaned as byordinary scrubbing, and makes the surface much more fire resistant.

In the accompanying drawing I have illustrated the sound absorbingmaterial applied to a wall in accordance with my invention and have alsoillustrated the sound absorbing material. In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a transverse section of a wall showing the sound absorbingmaterial applied;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of a portion of a unit of the sound absorbingmaterial showing the screen facing partly removed; and

Fig. 3 is an end elevation thereof.

The unit consists preferably of a core 1 having a facing 2 of Wire'screen on one surface thereof and having the opposite surface bare orfaced with some material, such as kraft paper, preferably creped, asindicated at 3. The core may be lformed of any highly porous materialbut I preferably employ a mat of shredded Wood :fibres disposed inheterogeneous arrangement and connected to each other at their points ofintersection by means of an adhesive which is sprayed on to the bersWhile the fibers are being deposited on a suitable support. The methodof making such material is described and claimed in the patent to HowardF. Weiss, No. 1,336,403 granted April 6, 1920. This heterogeneousarrangement of the bers gives extreme porosity, producing a large numberof air spaces in the mass and thus making it particularly suitable foruse as a sound absorb-` ing material in the acoustical correctionf oftheatres, auditoriums, public halls and thelike. The fibers may besecured to each `other by any suitable adhesive. Solutions of casein andlime or sodium silicate may be used.

The facings 2 and 3 are secured to the core in any suitable manner,preferably by an adhesive. The inner surfaces of these facings may becoated with an adhesive in any suitable manner and then applied to thesurface of the core. The adhesive is permitted to dry, thus securing thefacings in position. 'I'he adhesive employed for this purpose may be thesame as the adhesive employed for cementing the fibers of the mat toeach other, or a different adhesive may be selected for this purpose.'Ihe fibers may be deposited, during manufacture of the core, directlyon the facings 2 or 3, and secured thereto by the adhesive used incementing the fibers to each other.

In applying the wire screen facing to the mat or core I preferablyemploy a screen of a little greater length and width than the length andwidth of the core so that the screen will project beyond the edges asindicated at 4. These materials come in predetermined -lengths andwidths for application to buildings and by employing a screen of greaterwidth than the width of the core, the application of a sound absorbingmaterial to the walls or ceiling of-a room is made more simple.

In carrying out my invention the units or rolls of the sound absorbingmaterial are preferably of widths equal to the distances between thejoists or studding in a building construction. In Fig. 1 the joists orstudding are indicated by the reference numeral 5 and the usual lath 6is fastened thereto in any suitable manner. A layer of plaster 7 issecured to the laths in the usual manner. The wall to which the soundabsorbing material is to be applied is thus of conventionalconstruction. However, the material may be applied to any wall to whichfurring strips may rst be attached. In alignment with each of the joistsor studding I secure a furring strip 8 which is of substantially thesame thickness as the thickness of the unit of sound absorbing material.The units of sound absorbing material are then arranged between the twofurring strips as shown and the .projecting ends 4 of the screen facingextends over the outer surfaces of these furring strips. The soundabsorbing material may thus be secured in place by nails 9 or othersuitable fastening elements which pass into the furring strips andperhaps into the laths 6 or the joists 5. To produce a more nishedappearance the edges of the wire screen may be covered by panel stripsor molding 10 which may be secured in position by any suitable fasteningelements such as nails 11. This molding may be of practically the samewidth as the furring strip or preferably somewhat wider to cover ther'aw'edges of the core below the screen wire.

The spaced stubs, furring or other means have edges or faces whichdefine the location cf the wall, and they also provide a recessed spacefor location of the sound absorbing material. The sound absorbing unitis preferably made to fit neatly and snugly into the recess with theprojecting edges of the carrier facing of the unit secured to thesupports, preferably lying against the faces of the supports andattached thereto. By using a unit which fits snugly into the recess andwhich has a backing sheet like paper, capable of sealing oif theporosity of the unit, a substantially draftproof sound insulatingconstruction results.

The nished wall thus produced may -be painted or dzorated in anysuitable manner with the paint or other decoration applied directly tothe surface of the screen and it may be scrubbed or cleaned with theusual cleaning substances employed on ordinary plastered orI paintedwalls.

Throughout the claims the word walls is used in a generic sense andincludes ceilings as well as vertical walls and walls at an angle otherthan horizontal or vertical. The term screen, as used in thisspecification, is intended to cover all sorts of wire or perforatedfacing, whether the wire be woven, plaited or electrically weldedtogether, and to include perforated metal, metal woven in strips toprovide openings, and the like.

I claim:

1. A sound absorbing wall construction comprising a wall, furring stripssecured thereto at suitable intervals, mats of sound absorbing materialhaving a facing of wire screen arranged between said furring strips,said screen being secured to said furring strips to retain said mats inposition, and panel strips arranged over said screen and said furringstrips.

2. A sound absorbing wall construction comprising a wall, furring stripsarranged at suitable intervals on said wall, and mats of sound absorbingmaterial having a facing of wire screen arranged between said furringstrips, said furring strips and said mats being of substantially thesame thickness whereby their outer surfaces are substantially flush, thewire screen being of greater width than the mat and extending over theouter surface of the furring strips, said screen being secured to saidfurring strip to retain the mat in position.

3. A sound absorbing wall construction comprising a wall, furring stripsarranged at suitable intervals on said wall, mats of sound absorbingmaterial having a facing of wire screen arranged between said furringstrips, said furring strips and said mats being of substantially thesame thickness whereby their outer surfaces are substantially flush, thewire screen being of greater width than the mat and extending over theouter surface of the furring strips, said screen being secured to saidfurring strips to retain said mats in position and panel strips arrangedover said screen and said furring strips.

4:. A sound absorbing wall construction comprising in combination aseries of spaced supports having faces disposed to define the locationof a wall surface and having a recessed space between adjacent supportsrearwardly of' said wall surface, a sound absorbing unit having a screenfacing carrying a core of sound absorbent material attached theretoWithin the edges of the facing, said core fitting into said recess, andsaid facing being secured at the projecting edges to the faces of thesupports.

5. A sound absorbing wall construction comprising in combination aseries of spaced supports having faces disposed to define the locationof a wall surface and having a recessed space between adjacent supportsrearwardly of said wall surface, a sound absorbing unit having a screenfacing carrying a core of sound absorbing material attached thereto,said core in turn carrying a backing sheet capable of sealing off theporosity of said core, said core being of a size to t snugly into saidrecess perimetrically, and said facing having edges projecting beyondsaid core and attached to the faces of said supports.

6. A sound absorbing wall construction comprising in combination aseries of spaced supports having faces disposed to dene the location ofa wall surface and having a recessed space between adjacent supportsrearwardly of said wall surface, a screen secured to the faces of saidsupports enclosing said recess, a core of sound insulating material insaid recess behind said screen fitting snugly therein perimetrically,

and a sealing sheet in said recess rearwardly of said core.

'1. A sound absorbing wall construction comprising in combination aseries of spaced supports having faces disposed to define the locationof a wall surface and having a recessed space between adjacent supportsrearwardly of said wall surface, a screen secured to the faces of saidsupports enclosing said recess, and a core of sound insulating materialcarrying a sealing backing sheet located in said recess behind saidscreen fitting snugly in the recess perimetrically.

8. A sound absorbing wall construction comprising in combination aseriesof spaced supports disposed to dene the location of a wall surface andhaving a recessed space between adjacent supports rearwardly of saidwall surface,l

a wire screen secured to said supports enclosing said recess, and a coreof sound insulating material secured to and carried by said screen andlocated within said recess.

9. A sound absorbing wall construction comprising in combination aseries of spaced supports disposed to define the location of a wallsurface and having a recessed space between adjacent supports rearwardlyof said wall surface, a screen secured to said supports enclosing saidrecess; and a core of sound insulating material secured to and carriedby said screen, said core fitting snugly into said recessperimetrically, and a sealing-off backing sheet secured to and carriedby said core.

' ARTHUR LEE FOLEY.

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